Game Discussion Thread Philadelphia at Buffalo (12/7/2011, 7:30pm)

[Who Else?]

As did Herr Errorhoff. He was terrible. I wonder if the Sabres scouting staff knew what you get when you get the hoff. He's high risk and makes some bonehead decisions with the puck.

 

Roenick on the pre game said erhoff had all the tools but was not full in the toolbox. I guess this is what he mean.

It didn't help that erhoffs and ennis' sticks looked like they had the rigidity of a wet noodle. Don't fire Ruff Fire the equipment Manager.

 

I missed the post game What was Ruff's excuse tonight. The guys were tired in the second, didn't want to try hard, no it was probably Ellis' fault tonight. It seems like his turn to be randomly called out

[K-9]

The Sabres are what they are at the moment......a team with 10 players with less than 100 games of NHL experience.

 

Tonight only 7 skaters were regular players on the team last year. I still say .500 hockey would be a good month.

 

There may be some highs and lows.

 

Always an appreciated voice of reason, X.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[NowDoYouBelieve]

So then you pick coaching because something is not getting through to these guys in a variety of situations....

 

IMO, that's the long and short of it. After all these years, I'd never deign to call Ruff incompetent...but situations can become stale.

[...]

All just pure hogwash............it doesn't matter what player it is. If the goalie is on, he's on.

Just blows my mind that people actually use that crap to psychologically make themselves feel better.

 

 

Trust me, if I thought Miller blew that because he's Miller, I would say so. I don't really have much to say about either Miller or Enroth at the moment. I doubt any goalie in the league would look more "on" than the Sabres' tandem when they have the team in front them that they do.

 

Giroux was more "on" than Miller. Giroux has been more "on" than most of the goalies, or forwards, in the league this season. Eventually, like, say, Ovechkin, he will be "off", but not tonight.

 

This is not Miller's star season. That doesn't mean he blows, or needs to be traded, it just means that this season it looks like it's Giroux's season to become a star, and we saw why.

 

As noted above, I have moved away from being able to sincerely criticize the goalies of this organization. I can't because every single night they're being let down by the team in front of them. For all we know, Miller and Enroth, on a more competent team, would be battling each other for a Vezina.

[carpandean]

The move back to pre-lockout hockey is almost complete. Time to move roy, ennis and gerbe.

 

Funny thing, at one point in the game, I thought "man, I would have liked to have had Ennis right after the lockout ... now? I don't know."

[K-9]

I'm certainly not one to make excuses for ANYONE on this team, but I believe in Gerbe's case the puck hopped up and his stick went right under it as he was trying to force an odd man rush. That's the way I recall it, anyway.

 

The other two are more blame-worthy, IMHO.

 

Wait a minute. I thought the new de-humified, laser Zambonied ice rendered such puck hops a thing of the past. Damn!

 

GO SABRES!!!

[X. Benedict]

Wait a minute. I thought the new de-humified, laser Zambonied ice rendered such puck hops a thing of the past. Damn!

 

GO SABRES!!!

 

Dem biscuits are still vulcanized rubber. ;)

[carpandean]

Ouch, Lindy said that Philly's "a good speed team." So, in addition to being more talented and more physical (our rookies help that a little), they're fast, too? What's our advantage again?

[...]

Ouch, Lindy said that Philly's "a good speed team." So, in addition to being more talented and more physical (our rookies help that a little), they're fast, too? What's our advantage again?

 

They have cool digs.

[Who Else?]

Always an appreciated voice of reason, X.

 

GO SABRES!!!

 

Sabres didn't get out talented or out experienced tonight. They plain got out-worked.

A three goal lead and a steady stream of power plays is a nice head start.

They are both NHL Teams right?

[OverPowerYou]

Ouch, Lindy said that Philly's "a good speed team." So, in addition to being more talented and more physical (our rookies help that a little), they're fast, too? What's our advantage again?

 

Our locker room......... :unsure:

[Hawerchuk]

Wow. Sabres are full of terrible giveaways, odd man rushes and blocked shots. I've never seen a team hit so many shin pads game in and game out as I have with this team this season. Very discouraging so far.

 

Got a point tonight but definitely should have taken 2!

 

Side note: Danny Briere was invisible tonight. think he got 10mins ice time. What's up with him?

[Formerly Allan in MD]

The Sabres would make great cooks - of turnovers. Imagine the reviews.

[stenbaro]

This game isnt on Miller at all..First off Gerbe misplayed the puck at the end of the first and Philly took the momentum and ran..We tied it up with a good effort and Gragnani placed the puck perfectly on Geroux's stick goin the other way...What more do u want..Two boneheaded plays removed we win..I dont like Gragani or Sekera, they treat the puck like its a Christmas gift way to many times a game for my liking..But whatever who am I....

[LGR4GM]

disgraceful, enough said.

[qwksndmonster]

The Sabres would make great cooks - of turnovers. Imagine the reviews.

Quoted for best popsicle stick joke.

[TheMatrix31]

 

 

Did Miller suck when he broke up the Jagr breakaway too?

[Huckleberry]

The Sabres' problems have resulted from a lack of focus. Gerbe inexplicably loses the puck with 8 seconds left and fails to clear the zone without a Flyer in sight. Sekera fails to take the body on Jagr. Grags tries the laziest cross-ice pass in hockey history.

 

These are mistakes that err closer to mental than physical. These guys need to get their HEADS IN THE GAME for gosh sake.

 

Can't really see how you can blame Lindy ruff for these "on ice mistakes", not like he is playing himself :P , but the blame can only be found with the players making them, and hope they'll learn from it.

rather have them doing it now then come play off time.

[PromoTheRobot]

All just pure hogwash............it doesn't matter what player it is. If the goalie is on, he's on.

 

You can't expect a goalie to stand on his head for 82 games. At what point do the 5 other guys in front have to be "on?"

 

PTR

[JJFIVEOH]

The Sabres are what they are at the moment......a team with 10 players with less than 100 games of NHL experience.

 

Tonight only 7 skaters were regular players on the team last year. I still say .500 hockey would be a good month.

 

There may be some highs and lows.

 

I would agree with this 100%. If they went out and gave it their all and were losing games because they got outplayed, I could accept that because of the inexperience and injuries. But, I am just not seeing the effort at all. Everybody loves to use the injury excuse, the fact of the matter is the rookies are outplaying the vets at least as far as effort goes. For most of the last two periods tonight it looked like most of the team was just going through the motions, like they just played a double OT game in the playoffs and had nothing left. Didn't they just have 3 days off? I hate to keep bringing up the Panthers, but I do because I get to see up close how another team is faring. That team goes out and busts their ###### every single night. They've got some talent on that team, but not as much as the Sabres IMO. (I may be wrong, they just might have the same talent and the guys the Panthers picked up during the offseason could be finding their niche). It's frustrating watching the Sabres do what they did in the first period because it shows they have the ability to dominate at will. It's a shame they can't be consistent enough to do that for more than 10 minutes a game.

[LaFontaineToMogilny]

Heart breaker again. The scariest part for me is that even when the Sabres went up by 3 goals in the first, I had no confidence that they would be able to close it out. That makes me worried.

 

I thought the Sabres gave a great effort in this game, the problem was too many mental mistakes against a very tough opponent. When the Flyers pounced on the Gerbe flub our guys were not able to step up with them. Missing passes and not being able to get to pucks or clear the zone effectively when the tempo got cranked up. I think the game showed that the Sabres more than anything lack composure and confidence.

 

That said, I always try to look for positives so here are the things that I particularly liked:

• Kassian shows fantastic potential
  
• Leino keeps getting better and looked (for the most part) solid on a line with Adam and Kassian.
  
• The Sabres have stepped it up physically, mostly thanks to call ups from the Amerks
  
• When the Sabres needed someone to step up and tie the game Stafford came through big. His last few shifts before his goal were great, hopefully it will be a wakeup call for him. Or at the very least the start of a streak of a few good games at least.
  

Plenty of things to complain about, but I'll leave that to others. In short I have seen much worse games by Buffalo this year, but it is frustrating that they keep getting undone by the same types of mistakes game after game.

[JJFIVEOH]

OMG your avatar brings back memories!!!!!

[Marine0369]

i have been trying to figure out why the sabres collapse when having the lead. i have a few reasons which involve alot of swearing at individual players but my only legitimate reason is this. we are a team that does not react well to dissapointment. for example, we give up a goal with 1 sec left in the first. they get down on themselves and cant move past it mentally which translates to the on ice performance. erhoff is my best example. he has zero confidence in himself. he makes one give away and thats it. the rest of the game is a downward spiral for him. hes not the only one though. i believe the same thing happened to myers before he sat out the one game. id like to see robin take control of the defense as in telling them to let sh!t go and man up. forward wise i think its just an unfortunate result of multiple players going through one of those seasons where you slump and then bounce back near the end and continue to improve next year. im still hoping for good things to happen though.

[Bullwinkle]

While a lot of you are nailing Miller and MAGS for the game-winning goal, I'm blaming another guy - Ehrhoff. Sure the pass was ill advised...sure Miller "should" have stopped it (maybe)...but what was Ehrhoff doing along the near boards when MAGS had the puck along the far boards? Any Pee Wee defenseman knows that you move to the middle when your partner is along the boards. Had he been in position, he could have taken the pass or have stopped Giroux from having a breakaway.

 

Ehrhoff was TERRIBLE! And unfortunately, not for the first time this year. I think his failure to live up to his potential along with Leino's has contributed to the Sabres' less than stellar performance so far this season. It's not the only reason, but it's a big one.

[Weave]

Ouch, Lindy said that Philly's "a good speed team." So, in addition to being more talented and more physical (our rookies help that a little), they're fast, too? What's our advantage again?

 

I don't think Philly is an overall tougher team than Buffalo anymore. Sure they've got Hartnell and Old Man Pronger, but at this point they are a different team than they were over the last few years. Much more tenacious in their puck play than tough IMO.

 

I know we are fielding alot fo rookies but this team was already starting to have more poor outtings than good before the injury train started if I remember correctly. And right now they are losing to bottom feeders as well as top teams. There was alot fo talk in September about waiting 20-25 games to see what we have. I don't like what I see. I'm not willing to dismiss the situation to injuries because there are a number fo guys who are playing with the linemates and D partners they would still be playing with if everyone is healthy and are still not providing value. I'm not buying the "still need to gel" line for them. Stafford and Erhoff come to mind immediately but certainly there are others.

 

Hightened expectations have alot to do with it of course, but this is a most frustrating season so far. And I don't see the answer on the injury list.